Sony to boost smartphone batteries because people aren’t replacing phones

User frustration over battery life has steadily increased as people keep devices for longer, but the company has a solution

There was a time a few years back when a lot of people bought a new smartphone every 18 months, as soon as the latest model dropped and their contract was up. But that has changed.

As the rate of technical improvements slows and new models offer little beyond a shiny new exterior, the urge to spend 600 each year has become easier to ignore. Polling by Fluent and eMarketer in the US suggests that nearly half of smartphone users now wait at least three years between upgrades, while data from Gallup suggests more than half wait until their phone stops working or becomes "totally obsolete".